


Rag

by Davechicken



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Episode tag to 2x07, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-08
Packaged: 2017-12-31 21:58:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rachel comes to visit Bass in his shack.</p><p>For heiots, on her birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rag

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Heiots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heiots/gifts).



"I've come to check that you're okay," Rachel says, watching from one side of the room as her patient clumsily pours himself some stale water and drinks it with worrying relish. His gulps are noisy and a little too fast to be wise. "You're going to be feeling 'off' for a while, yet."

"I'm sure being dead has that effect on most people," Bass replies, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. The chipped tumbler goes back onto the wooden table-top. "How long?"

"Hard to say for sure. You're in good condition, so not that long."

He nods and those blue eyes of his track her for a moment longer before whatever it is in them makes him turn away and stare out the window. She prefers that. She always finds his gaze a little unsettling, and it always lingers longer than it needs to.

"We'll bring along more supplies when we can. Just stay hydrated and rest as much as possible."

Which is when there's a scuffling noise, and Rachel jumps a mile. She looks around for the source of it, hand grabbing the nearest blunt object ready to defend herself. But Bass seems unperturbed and he goes to the back door of the little shack.

"Oh, you brought me a present? Thanks buddy."

"Who are you talking to?"

Bass comes back in holding... a bird? It's bloody and clearly has a broken wing. She stares at him in confusion as he comes back in with a flash of tan, orange, white and black around his ankles that darts off to hide under the bed.

"It's my little friend," Bass says. "He's not used to visitors. You might wanna look away."

"Why?"

"Rachel... look away."

She shakes her head and watches in horror as Bass turns his back on her. His elbows move sharply and there's a tiny little sound of breaking. Bass has wrung the little bird's neck.

"C'mon... I know you're hungry like me, Rag." Bass crouches down and wiggles his fingers in front of him. "But there's more for you than me on this, so why don't you eat it?"

When the cat doesn't come out, Bass flings the dead bird and lets the corpse fall just in front of the bed. A paw swipes out and then it's gone.

"You have a cat," she says, even though it's stating the obvious.

"Not really. He came by a few times before. He was hungry. I gave him some scraps, and now he comes and goes as he likes. I think he has a human, more than me having a cat."

Only Bass could find a pet in this dive, she thinks. "I see."

He wipes his hands off on his grubby chinos and sits down on the equally grubby chair. "Thank you, by the way."

"I didn't do it for you, Bass."

"I know."

"I did it for Charlie."

"I'm going to thank her, too," he says, patiently. His eyes are back to staring at her now, and she can hear the crunch of the cat eating under the bed. It doesn't seem to bother him, but then - why would it?

"Why?"

"Why what, Rachel?"

"Why did you come? You know you're not welcome in Texas. You know you're not welcome anywhere. Why did you come?"

"Two reasons." He shrugs. "One... for all I didn't want the Republic... that was ten years of my life, Rachel. It was all for Miles, but when he went? When he left it was all I had. And sure, maybe I wasn't the best leader, but I still cared about those people. And those bastards need to pay for what they did."

She has to fight very hard not to roll her eyes. All for Miles? The man wore power happily enough. He'd loved the trappings of leadership. The fawning followers. No one had forced him to do it.

"What's the second reason?"

"Your family needs me," he tells her. "Miles needs me. Charlie needs me."

"We were managing just fine without you."

"Yeah? Well, why was Charlie out and getting herself almost-killed, Rachel? Don't try to lie to me. I know you and Miles have plans about these Patriots. And I know Miles needs someone to help him. No one understands him like I do."

"He's different. He's changed." She wishes she believed this, but it was hard to. Hard to when here was Bass, yet again, pushing in on their lives like he always had. Miles never seemed able to quit him.

"Is he?" Bass shrugs. "I don't think so. I know the tactics he pulled when he was working with Georgia against me. It doesn't matter... he still needs me. I'm still good at what I do."

From under the bed, the small cat emerges. Bass puts a hand up in a 'softly, softly' gesture and she just follows it with her eyes. It's a straggly little beast, more hair and tendon than anything else. There's a chunk missing from one ear and a scar over a shoulder where fur isn't growing right. The little cat sashays menacingly over to his ankle and weaves between his feet a few times. Bass bends down and puts a hand out, and the cat bumps into it head-first once, then goes back to pacing like a tiny little patchwork tiger.

"We both know these guys are bad news, Rachel. And I'm determined to make them pay for it. For all of it. So... hate me all you want, but you should know I've never meant harm to any of your family."

"You kidnapped me - and my son - and you had my husband murdered. And my son."

"And I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt Ben or Danny. I'll say it til I'm blue in the face, but you won't ever believe me, so what's the point?"

"There is none."

Bass sighs. The cat bats at his hand and she sees a flash of claws. Seemingly unconcerned, he sits back and licks at the single drop of blood. She's not sure why the attack doesn't worry him, but it doesn't. The cat stares up and meows once.

"Okay, buddy, I get it." Bass puts a hand under the cat's belly and lifts it up, moving it to his shoulder. It curls around like a scarf, the tail swishing over the front of his throat brokenly, forever bent at the end. "I know, buddy boy. She's fine. Don't worry."

"The cat is a girl," Rachel points out. "Tortoiseshell. They're all female."

Bass' eyes narrow. "Rag is a boy."

"But she--"

A momentary jolt of anger in his eyes makes her subside. Fine. He doesn't want to change his mental image of his stray, vicious little beast. He's so set in his ways that he won't reconsider, even in the face of science. No amount of arguing is going to change that.

"You sleep tight little buddy," Bass says, stroking the cat between the ears. There's a battered, tiny purr, then the cat seems to settle down.

"I won't hurt them," Bass insists again. "Not on purpose."

"If you did..."

"I know. You'd kill me. And I'd deserve it. But like it or not, Rachel... even if Miles doesn't like to admit it either... we're family. And family does fucked up things to one another, but..." 

She shakes her head. No.

"Go," Bass tells her. "You need to talk to Charlie. She still hasn't forgiven you, you know."

"How dare you--"

He sighs. "Rachel... just go. Talk to her. I know me and Miles took you away, but you've got the chance now. I'd kill for one more day with my family. You got thousands of them. Make them worthwhile." He sits back in the chair, the small feline blanket on his shoulders shuffling for purchase. "She's a good kid. Smart. But she's like you. She's stubborn, and slow to warm. But if she can forgive me, then she can forgive you."

Rachel wants to hate Bass. She really, really does.

But she's never hated him enough to kill him.

It must run in the family.

She refuses to nod as she gets up and walks back to town, leaving Bass and his stray in peace.


End file.
